Tragedy Averted
by CharlieGirl
Summary: a THE BLUE LAGOON fanfic, PG for mild descriptions of childbirth. What would have happened if Richard and Em had been able to get back to the little island?


This work of fan fiction poses the question:  "What would have happened if Richard and Emmeline had been able, somehow, to get back to the island safely with Paddy?  What challenges would they face next, and how would they deal with them?"  This work of fan fiction attempts to answer it.  

Tragedy Averted

A Blue Lagoon fanfic by CharlieGirl

Richard, Emmeline, and Paddy had gotten themselves into a dangerous situation.  The island was getting further away, as they were pulled out to see by the wind and tide.  Emmeline buried her head in her hands in despair, and Richard stood in the boat, looking around him in desperation, while Paddy sat on the bow, unconcerned.  As he turned his head around, grasping for a way out, he saw the little island.  A plan began to form in his mind, and he started paddling with his hands towards the island.  Emmeline looked at him strangely.  

"Richard, why are you…" She started.  Then she saw the island.  A look of understanding came over her face, and she began to paddle also, fighting the wind that was pulling them away.  After an hour of on-and-off paddling, they made it near enough to the shore to swim the boat in.  Safely on shore, they collapsed, tears welling up in their eyes.  Paddy sat near the water, playing with the little boat he brought with him.  He pulled a twig out of it and plucked a berry from the end.  Richard caught sight of him and dove toward him, just in time to avert disaster once again.  He sighed with relief and tossed the berries out into the water.  

"Bewwy!"  Paddy shouted, pointing at the water.  

Richard grabbed Paddy's hand and brought him up to sit by Emmeline.  "Those are never-wake-up-berries, Paddy!  Leave them alone!  You eat them and you go to sleep and you get dud-n-buried."  Paddy looked up at him, solemnly.  He sat down next to them and they rested.  

A few hours later, rested up from the exertions of the day, Emmeline began looking around for wood to make paddles from.  Richard kicked sand over the bones on the beach, and covered the mound with stones, all-the-while keeping an eye on Paddy.  Emmeline came back soon after, with two long pieces of driftwood.  Richard smiled, and praised her, saying, "Perfect!"

With his knife, he cut deep grooves in the soft wood of the boat, and put the driftwood in them.  They climbed into the boat and shoved off, and Richard rowed them back to the island.  They stopped again by the wreck of the old hut, and Richard picked up the bananas he'd dropped.  Then they continued on to home.  

Within days, they'd relaxed again, and got back into their usual routine, fishing, swimming, and playing.  Richard and Emmeline also began to make love again, for the first time since before Paddy was born.  They still heard the drumbeats occasionally, but they stayed away from the other side of the island, except for leaving flowers at the statue.  

Soon, Emmeline noticed her body changing again.  She smiled often, knowing now what was "wrong" with her.  Richard began to notice the changes, too, as her belly became rounder and her breasts fuller.  Paddy patted her tummy and asked her "What derr?"

"There's a baby there.  Growing inside my tummy.  Soon it will be born.  Then my tummy will get little again, and you'll have a baby brother or sister to play with, when it's big enough.  You're going to be a big brother, Paddy!"  She explained.  

"Big brudder!"  He shouted.  This became his battle cry.  When he attacked fish in the tide-pools, he'd stomp about and shout "Big brudder!  Big brudder!"  

One morning, Emmeline felt pains in her stomach again.  She woke Richard.  "Richard.  Richard!"

"What!  What is it?  What's wrong?"  He asked worriedly, jumping up.  She smiled.  

"It's today."  She answered, prompting a smile from him, as well.  Paddy climbed up the ladder to their loft.  

"Big brudder?"  He asked softly.  

"Yes, big brother.  The baby will be born today."  Richard replied, rubbing circles over Emmeline's tummy.  

As the day wore on, the pains worsened and quickened.  By early evening, Emmeline couldn't help moaning loudly with each one.  She got up from her makeshift bed on the floor of the hut and stumbled out the door.  "Where are you going?"  Richard shouted, dropping his fishing spear.  He ran after her, followed by Paddy, as she made her way into the forest with blankets in her arms.  She dropped down in the crooked roots of the tree where Paddy was born and began to push, groaning loudly.  Paddy cried, frightened.  

"Don't be scared, Paddy.  This is what happened when you were born, too."  He hugged Paddy to him with one arm, and held Emmeline's hand in his.  Emmeline hunched over and pushed one last time, then leaned back with a gasp.  After a moment, she opened her eyes, and they gazed down in wonder at the tiny, squealing form before them.  They wrapped it up and carried it back to the hut as night broke.  

The next morning, Richard woke up to the sight of Emmeline bathing the baby.  She noticed him out of the corner of her eye.  "Oh, you're awake.  I'm just giving Hannah her bath."

"Her bath?"  He asked her.  She nodded.  Richard grinned and climbed downstairs to make breakfast.  He found Paddy sitting on the floor, poking at a cowrie shell with a stick.  He looked sad.  

"What's wrong, Paddy?"  He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.  Paddy shrugged it away.  Paddy, it must be remembered is a child of less than three, and prone to wild behavior.  But he had never avoided his father's touch before.  

"Hey, hey, now, what's the matter?"  He tried again.  

"Baby."  

"What's wrong with the baby?"

"Baby sisser.  No baby brudder." He replied.

"Yes, the baby is a girl, but what's wrong with that?"  Richard asked.  

"Nodding.  Wan brudder."  Paddy answered.  

"I know.  When I was little, I wanted a little brother, too.  But my mom never had any other babies.  And girls are okay, too."  He explained, talking to Paddy like an equal.  

"I know."  Paddy said clearly.  Then he got up and ran out of the hut and down the beach.  He climbed up the rocks and sat in the chair overlooking the lagoon.  Richard didn't follow him.  Instead, he went the other way, into the forest, to pick fruit for breakfast.  When he got back to the hut, Paddy was already there, eating a banana, and smiling.  

Finis Temporarum, or something like that.  


End file.
